Frank Kogan

"Still strong in Asia" — i.e., I know the influence is strong in Korea (e.g., Kara "Jumping," 4minute "Hot Issue," H.O.T. "We Are The Future," Leader'S "Hope," Chuli & Miae "Why You," etc.), and I'm wondering if it's strong in Japan too. A question about the influence would be how much is from direct and deliberate takeoffs on American freestyle of the '80s and how much is from ongoing evolution of Korean music that's taken in this or that aspect of freestyle. Not that producers are likely to say to themselves, "I am taking this element from American freestyle and this other element from the Korean use of freestyle." It's not like genealogy. And I've never heard a Korean track that sounds like American freestyle start-to-finish.

I also don't know how prevalent this usage of the term "freestyle" is in Korea, or even if it's in use at all. By "this usage" I mean stuff that sounds like the Miami-NY style in the '80s w/ fierce intertwining beats and intertwining riffs and dolorous melodies, usually with female singers, mostly but not always Latina. Debbie Deb, Exposé, Company B, Judy Torres, Cynthia, Lisette Melendez, the Cover Girls, etc. Of course there are other, unrelated uses of the term "freestyle," e.g. for improvised rap, for improvised breakdancing, choices in rollerblading, etc. A quick glance at Google gets me all those for "Korean freestyle" but not the specific musical genre. There is a Korean group Freestyle (프리스타일), whose style on the several tracks I've heard is r&b-leaning dance-pop with lots of rap but nothing from the musical genre "freestyle."